


Just to See You Smile

by ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Also Angelo is a Good Friend, Caroline is still Not Used to Having Friends, JUST, Multi, Second Citadel (Penumbra Podcast), Talfryn and Marc are very good brothers, and it's very good, birthdays!!!, but Quanyii is delighted by her girlfriend's new social life, but it's a little unconventional, pure fluff, rad bouquet all celebrate their birthdays, they're in love y'all, very soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:40:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21790957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand/pseuds/ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand
Summary: Three lovers, three birthdays, three celebrations
Relationships: Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla (Penumbra Podcast)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 50





	Just to See You Smile

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AetherAria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AetherAria/gifts).



> Happy Birthday, my lovely bean!!! To quote Griffin McElroy - You fill my life with light and love and I wanted to return the favor! I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing day/weekend coming up filled with people you love and presents and good food. <3<3<3<3<3<3 Love you!!!!! 
> 
> This was originally supposed to only be 3 chapters but the initial "what the heck is a birthday" conversation ended up taking a while and I didn't want the first chapter to be like twice the size of the other two, so I split it. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ oops? I'm overly wordy? 
> 
> I also intended to have it *all* finished by your birthday, but alas. Finals. Very Rude of them. But that means you just get an extra long birthday celebration!!! Should have the rest of the chapters up over the next few days/week! 
> 
> Fic Title from the song with the same name by Tim McGraw  
> Chapter Title from

There are many human customs that Arum does not understand. Monsters are far too individualistic for common holidays, let alone _traditions_. Each new holiday his humans celebrate brings a new kind of frustration. There are _rules_ , and… Expectations. Arum doesn’t understand this incessant need to… To throw parties, festivals, make a fool of oneself in some mock display of devotion for some divine power they cannot possibly understand. 

He goes along with them, though, and in return, Damien and Amaryllis respect that these events do not hold the same… Weight for him as they do for humans. Amaryllis doesn’t feel particularly attached to human traditions, either, he finds out. Damien is really the only one that takes them seriously, and Amaryllis is too kind and patient not to indulge him something that brings him comfort and happiness. 

Arum finds this is also true for him, one day, when they’re all bundled up in bed and still half-awake in the early morning light. He’s between them, tucked under the covers, legs and tail intertwined with legs and feet and sheets. Damien’s head is tucked into the crook of his neck, and Amaryllis has an arm wrapped around his torso. She pushes herself up on one elbow to lean over the two of them, a warm smile lighting up her face. There’s a mischievous gleam in her eyes that Arum is slowly learning to trust, and he waits patiently for her to voice whatever idea has come to her (that look usually means she has an _idea_ , and if she directs it at him that means it’s usually one that he won’t like). 

Amaryllis is looking at Damien, though, when she says, “So, your birthday’s coming up… anything in particular you wanna do?”

Damien sits up too, and Arum immediately misses the warmth as he pulls away and takes the sheet with him. “Oh! I- to be quite honest I had completely forgotten about it, my flower. It- we’ve been so busy lately and I suppose it must have slipped my mind.”

Arum blinks, looking between them. He knows that this is another…. Tradition. But she said _your_ birthday, so it is not a- not a _holiday?_ He huffs and braces himself for whatever this is going to entail, pushing himself up into a sitting position. “And _what_ , pray tell, Amaryllis, is a- _birthday_?”

He realizes immediately that this question is a mistake. The looks his two humans give him - This question was _definitely_ a mistake. Damien looks like he’s going to cry, and Amaryllis looks a little confused at first, but then she gets that gleam in her eye again, and this time it is very much directed at him which makes him ruffle up his frill and grumble, “You - _humans_ \- with your _traditions_ and _holidays_ you can hardly expect me to keep up with them all.”

Damien’s mouth falls open, “But- but my lily surely you- you _know_ what a birthday is?”

“If I _knew_ , little Honeysuckle, I would not have asked, would I? Takatakataka,” Arum huffs. “You are well aware by now that I know very little of human customs.” 

“But- to not know what a- surely you must have-” 

Rilla reaches across Arum to put a hand on Damien’s shoulder. “Alright, Damien, breathe. It isn’t the end of the world.”

She turns back to Arum, giving him an appraising look. “I sort of figured you wouldn’t know, which is why I wanted to bring this up when we were all together. I didn’t want any of this to come as a surprise to you, and I knew if anything you wouldn’t know _when_ our birthdays are, so I thought I’d make a whole conversation out of it. I mean you didn’t exactly have the _typical_ human family experience. Birthdays are a tradition, but not a holiday. Humans celebrate the days they’re born. It started a long time ago, when we celebrated the birth of Saints. Eventually, that celebration extended to common people, too. It’s a way to keep track of our ages and mark the passage of time. It’s one time of year when you give people presents, we make cake, and just celebrate another year going by.” 

Arum can’t help rolling his eyes a little at this. “I will never understand the human obsession with time. It is a _mere construct_ , completely arbitrary. It has no actual _value._ ” 

Amaryllis gives him a wry smile, “Well, you aren’t entirely wrong. Damien and I actually do things a little bit differently. We don’t celebrate our birthdays _on_ our actual birthdays. I… don’t actually remember mine, exactly. My parents weren’t big on following traditions either, so they just picked what I always thought were random days and surprised me with it every year. It wasn’t until after they were exiled that I realized it always happened to be on days right after a really bad day. When I’d failed an experiment, or hurt myself wandering out in the jungle. They did it when they thought I needed to be cheered up.”

She shrugs as she says this, but Arum can see the tension in her frame and in the line of her jaw. He stiffens a little, never quite sure what to do when Amaryllis brings up her parents. He knows it’s a difficult subject, one that he knows is generally better left alone. He knows the basics of the tale, but Amaryllis brings them up so rarely that these little details feel precious. He wants to reach out and touch her, comfort her, but he’s afraid if he moves the moment will be broken and she will stop talking. 

After a moment, she shakes her head to clear it, and continues. “Anyway, I like surprises a little less as an adult, and I want some consistency… I’m pretty sure I had a few _too_ many birthdays as a kid - I had _a lot_ of failed experiments - so I’m not even sure how old I am anymore, but I like the tradition of it. Something for _me_ , y’know? It’s nice every once in a while. So my “birthday” is the first day of summer.” 

Amaryllis looks to Damien, then, expectantly, and Arum follows her gaze to the poet. Damien looks up and meets his gaze for a moment, before dropping his eyes to his lap again, flushing slightly. “My father did not approve of any holidays other than the Saint holidays, he believed humans unworthy of the same respect we give the Saints, so we did not celebrate birthdays either. I know when mine is, of course, because going through school and the path to knighthood these things are- are better kept track of. As I grew older, though, I began to like the idea of celebrating a birthday, but… Rather for me I wanted to celebrate my- well I suppose I would call it a _rebirth_ , really. The day that Saint Damien saved me from the river. The day that I dedicated my life to my Saint, the day that I found my voice. I know that may seem… Silly to you, my lily. You are right that time itself arbitrary, but to me… it is not insignificant. It is a day that I _choose_ to remember, to remind myself of the chances I have been given, of where I started and who I have become.”

Damien still isn’t looking at him, and something in Arum aches at the fact that, again _somehow_ , in his foolishness and thoughtlessness he has made Damien _ashamed_. It happens far too often, and each time he sees this look on Damien’s face, the slump to his shoulders, he grows overwhelmed with a feeling that he is entirely unaccustomed to. He is unafraid to reach out to Damien, though. Damien will never shy away from speaking as Amaryllis does. So, with a rumbling purr low in his throat, he shifts on the bed to pull Damien into an embrace, resting his snout on the top of Damien’s head, nuzzling gently into his hair. “If it is important to you, Honeysuckle, then it is not silly. I did not mean to be... dismissive. I may not always understand the significance of your traditions, but that does not make them insignificant.” 

Damien makes a soft noise and leans into Arum, tilting his head up to press his lips to the underside of Arum’s jaw, making Arum purr louder. Amaryllis hums in amusement, “Alright, if you two are done being adorable for the moment, can we get back on topic?” 

Damien bolts upright, already stammering over an apology, but Amaryllis cuts him off. “Damien, it’s fine, just tell me what you want to do for your birthday this year. It’s still a couple weeks off but depending on what you want to do I want to have time to prepare.”

Arum, disappointed that Damien has sat up again, leans his head down and rests his chin on Damien’s shoulder. Damien absentmindedly brings a hand up to stroke Arum’s cheek while thinks. “I think I’d still like to have a proper celebration, if it isn’t too much trouble?, Now that we have Arum to consider, the guest list will be considerably smaller, but we all have so little time together as it is that I’d like to use the opportunity. Maybe… Sir Angelo, and your brothers - I’d really like to try to get to know them better, now that, well… I doubt that Sir Caroline will deign to come, but I had better extend the invitation nonetheless.” 

Amaryllis nods, and then sits up on her hands and knees to lean across Arum and give Damien a quick peck on the cheek. She sits back again and looks at Arum, grinning. “Alright, I think I can work with that.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @shorter-than-her-tbr-pile on tumblr and the lovely bean this is written for is @AetherAria on here and @jakkubrat on tumblr. Go read all their wonderful rad bouquet fics!!!


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